After a visit to the Smoky Mountains, your child should have a great appreciation for nature. That makes this the perfect time to discuss what you can do as a family in order to help protect nature.
If you haven’t done so already, use this as an opportunity to discuss the importance of recycling. Talk about deforestation and how animals are going extinct as their habitats are destroyed in order to make new goods that could have been made with recycled goods. Ask your child to come up with a plan for the family for improving your recycling habits. Not only does this help get your child thinking in a more worldly manner, it also gives him or her some ownership into the project. By giving your child ownership, he or she will be more likely to follow through with the plan.
You can extend this concept further by asking your child to develop a plan that could be used by your entire neighborhood or community. Who knows, you might be able to start an initiative that will get a whole group of people working toward better protecting the environment!